Firefighters: Burning Love

Rating: General Audiences

Pairing: Nine/Rose

Other tags: Firefighter AU, Human AU, Modern AU, Older Man/Younger Woman, Friends to Lovers

Warnings: None

Summary: It wasn't until their building was on fire that Rose learned her neighbor down the hall was a station officer. In the aftermath of the incident, they become friends a maybe a little bit more.

Day 17! Sincerely sorry for the title. I couldn't think of anything else. Enjoy!

Also, sorry in advance for the kinda meh ending. I had to wrap this one up quick or else it would go on forever.

Word Count: 1,440

Rose stood on the sidewalk across the street, surrounded by her neighbors as the last of the flames were being put out. They hadn't yet been told the cause of the fire, but Rose suspected that Harry Saxon had something to do with it. That guy gave her the creeps. Thankfully though, the flames had only spread from the front lobby to a few adjacent hallways and offices. The receptionist was shaken up, but no one was hurt and none of the damage impacted the stability of the building.

Amy and Rory, the couple in the flat below hers, were pressed together, one arm around each other while their free hands rubbed Amy's pregnant stomach. Donna, the fiery ginger from across the hall, was already on her phone telling her mother what had happened. Rose herself was rooting in her purse, praying her phone was inside. The last thing she needed was her mother finding out about this on the evening news.

Rose groaned when she realized her phone was charging in her bedroom. She frantically looked around for someone she could borrow a phone from. She didn't notice the man approaching her until his voice came from behind her.

"Is everything ok, Miss?" Rose spun around at the deep Northern accent. A man in his late 30s stood by her, wearing a uniform that marked him as a station officer. He had short cropped hair an ice-blue eyes that distracted her for a moment before she remembered he'd asked her a question.

"I'm fine, I'm just trying to find someone to borrow a phone from. I need to call my mum before she sees this on the news. Otherwise she'll be down here in a second and trust me you don't want that." The man chuckled with her before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a mobile. Rose thanked him before dialing her mother. Jackie Tyler started talking as soon as Rose greeted her.

"Rose Marion Tyler! Don't go to your flat! It's on fire, I'm watching it right now. Something about a tenant going crazy and committing arson. You need to move out of there, sweetheart. Come back home. You don't need a fancy flat, and I'm sure you can get your old job back at Henrik's since your current one is too far away from you. It's been giving you airs and graces any—." Rose cut her mother off before she could continue.

"Mum, I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm 24 years old, I'm not moving back to the estate. And there's nothing wrong with having a flat, or a good job for that matter. I just called to say I'm fine and that nothing was damaged. Well, nothing of mine at least. The fire was only in the front hall and some offices. Go calm down before you go calling half the estate. I'll call you when we get the all clear to go back inside and I get my phone back. I'm using someone else's right now. Bye, I love you." She ended the call before her mother could start up again and handed it back to the man. "Thanks."

"You're, welcome, Rose Tyler." The man said, looking amused. Rose wondered how he knew her name before realizing he probably heard it though the phone. Her mother, predictably, had been shouting quite loudly. She blushed lightly but laughed.

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours. Would you mind leveling the playing field and telling me what it is?" Rose blinked after she spoke, realizing that it might have come out flirty. The man chuckled lightly, and she hoped that meant he didn't notice.

"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. You're always rushing from one spot to another." Now Rose was just confused and a little creeped out, which must've shown on her face. The man was quick to explain. "Sorry, that came out bad. I live in the flat down the hall from you. Ironic isn't it, arson at the station captain's building? I'm pretty sure this is the quickest I've ever seen my men get organized." They both laughed.

"Sir! There's something you need to see. We think it has something to do with the cause of the fire." An American voice shouted behind them.

"I'll be right there, Jack." The man turned back to Rose. "Well, duty calls." He started walking away before turning back around. "It's Jason, by the way. Jason Smith."

After that, Rose couldn't believe how blind she'd been. Jason did live down the hallway from her, and once she started looking for him he was in and out all the time. She could always tell whether or not he was going to work, since when he wasn't he always wore jeans, a jumper, and a leather jacket.

Now that they'd met, they realized that they ran into each other often, and not only at their building. After the third time meeting at the grocery store, Jason gave Rose his number and told her that if she ran out of something he'd pick it up for her. Their texting conversations began with simple offers to groceries, but they quickly turned into questions about the other person's day, favorite things, and their histories. Several months after the fire, he brought her some milk and she opened the door with a streak of what appeared to be tomato sauce on her cheek.

"Hey, Jason! Thanks for bringing that to me. Here, come on in. I'm in the middle of making dinner, if you can't tell." She gestured to her cheek. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before adding, "Actually, do you want to just stay for dinner? I'm making spaghetti and meat sauce. It's not much, but I love it." So, his assumption had been right. Jason laughed lightly.

"That would be fantastic. It's honestly a lot better than what I was planning. I just got a lot of microwave dinners. My cooking skills are pretty much nonexistent." He entered her flat before taking off his shoes, leaving them at the door.

Having the other over for dinner became a weekly thing. Well, it started being in Jason's flat once Rose taught him how to cook. She still had to help him most of the time, but it made for a good laugh between them.

Somewhere along the line, their relationship shifted. Slowly it stayed friendly but also became flirty. A hug that was just a second too long. A look when the other isn't looking. Texting conversations that now included winky face emojis (mostly from Rose. Jason was still learning and usually stuck to smiley faces) that lasted until midnight. Rose caught herself staring at Jason's rear, or found herself thinking about how his mouth would feel pressed against hers. If dinner turned into a movie, they stopped sitting on opposite sides of the couch and started sitting side by side. And honestly, that was the beginning of the end.

About 6 months after the fire, they were sitting side by side on her couch watching a movie. Rose had lost track of what it even was, she just knew it was a comedy. Both of them were rolling with laughter at the screen, and she turned her head towards him, not realizing their heads were so close. Well, she realized it once their lips momentarily met.

Not realizing what was happening , Rose starting kissing Jason for real before she came to her senses. They sprang apart from each other, both their faces burning. Rose stared at Jason, struggling to find something to say. Then words started tumbling from her mouth before she was really thinking about them.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I can't believe that happened. I don't know what I did that. Well, I've been thinking of doing that for a while, but not like that! It was going to... mmf!" She was cut off when Jason leaned forward and kissed her. He pulled back after a moment, his hand on her neck.

"Rose, are you sure? I'm fourteen years older than you." Rose's only response was to smile and kiss him again, leaning back and bringing him with her.

It wasn't a real surprise to anyone in their building when they realized the two were dating. It was a surprised to one Jackie Tyler, who Jason learned the hard way had a really strong arm. And palm. But at the end of the day, what really mattered is that he and Rose loved one another. And boy did they.